All's Not Well With The Eastern Front, The Seas Are Rising

Anna University's Centre for Climate Change and Disaster Management study led by Professor Emeritus A Ramachandran warns that sea levels along India's Bay-of-Bengal coastline, including Chennai, are rising faster than those facing the Arabian Sea—placing eastern ports and coastal districts under acute threat.

- HD Bureau

Tide-gauge records and NOAA satellite altimetry data spanning 1992 to 2023 reveal a climb in mean sea level well beyond trends seen in western waters. The Calcutta region and nearby districts could see a rise of up to 1.1 metres by 2100 under high-emissions pathways, compared with around 27 cm under low-emission scenarios.

Elevated annual increments compound the long-term challenge: Chennai shows about 0.55 mm per year rise, Nagapattinam 0.18 mm/year, while Tuticorin in southern Tamil Nadu registers -0.17 mm/year—a decline attributed to land uplift. Observed Bay-of-Bengal sea-level rates vary more markedly than those of the Arabian Sea, highlighting the region's heightened vulnerability.